a tiny update and the blog is MOVING!!!

So, yeah...it's been a while. I've been working on some good stuff though. Many, many sessions. You all keep me busy. There are a lot of updated images on my Facebook Fan page. Pop over there and take a peek if you haven't already. Friend me, fan me, easy peasy to keep up over there. I even post specials sometimes just for Facebook fans. I'm venturing into Twitter too. I haven't quite figured that one out but it's growing on me. My biggest news though, the website. It's finally live. I still have a few blanks to fill in but I figured if I officially let the word out that it was there then I would be motivated to finish it up. This writing about yourself stuff is hard. Come check it out. I'll get an official blog post up with pictures and everything shortly. Up first will be a riecent set of newborn triplets.

www.cristinestrickland.com


see you there.

Mommy & Me Mini Sessions | Grand Junction Relationship Photographer

Come celebrate the memorable relationship you have with your child with the special Mommy & Me Mini Session event with Cristine Strickland Photography. Each scheduled appointment will include a free of charge session and a minimum of eight personally retouched and refined images that make your photographs unique and significant to you and your children for you to choose from. The focus of your session will be to capture the tender, loving, and beautiful relationship between a mother and her children. Take advantage of this distinguished mother and child special and have incredible keepsake portraits to treasure for a lifetime with one of Cristine's exclusive sessions. Special packages have been made exclusively for mini-portrait events along with individual portrait prices to honor your wonderful moment.

Mommy & Me Mini Sessions will be taking place on Sunday, April 26th at Five60 Salon and Spa, 560 Colorado Avenue. As with previous mini-sessions, each session will last approximately 20 to 30 minutes and will result in at least eight characteristic images. The mini-portrait events are a great way to sample Cristine's work or to get a few updated images between full sessions. There is no minimum purchase and your satisfaction is entirely guaranteed. There is no session fee, but space is limited, so call Cristine today to schedule your appointment at 970-208-7139.

Averi | Grand Junction Children's Photographer

The first time I met and photographed this little one she was a bit shy. Her parents had brought her into Kairo's for our first set of Mini Sessions. I got some beautiful images of her there but she was pretty reserved and really didn't want much to do with me or my camera. We all agreed that she'd open up and really let me in if I photographed her at home. And she did. It had been a while since I had seen little Averi. I had been to her home a couple of times already for the previous ordering session and when I delivered images. She remembered me. She immediately grabbed my hand and wanted to show me all of her things. I have that effect on the little ones. It happens often. I always try to give them a few minutes just for them before we get down to business. I makes them special. It makes me their friend. And it makes for incredible images that show your child's true personality.

more Arts, Hearts & Tarts | Grand Junction Glamour Photographer

I thought I would share a few images so you could see what to expect when you book an Arts, Hearts & Tarts session with Five 60 Salon. In the last few days we have been busy preparing ourselves for the event. Both Channel 5 and Channel 11 News requested more information, interviews and images.

We fixed Five 60's Leigh up first so she and Heather would have something to take with them when they visited the KKCO 11 News studio early last Monday morning.

Then we sent KREX News Channel 5's, Lindsey Eaton through a session. She had her hair, make up and nails done by the Five 60 girls while on camera ( I believe I heard the words "pampered princess" during the process. ) and then I photographed her. Look for the story on tonight's news!

Valentine's Day at Five 60 | Grand Junction Glamour Photographer

If you've ever stopped in to Kairos Children's Boutique and hung out long enough for coffee (she has the best coffee on the block by the way) you've probably met Heather of Five 60 Salon as well. Her salon is next door and often the store owners on that block can be seen hanging out in the sun at the little table in front of Carla's. Or when it's cold huddled in front of the heaters inside. I'm telling you, Carla's is the go to place for coffee. The girl should sell the stuff.

A few weeks ago as Carla and I were warming our hands by the heaters and sipping our coffee Heather popped her head in and said she had an idea she wanted to run by me. She wanted to do Valentine makeovers with mini sessions to document the beautiful women we have in our town and to celebrate local artists through the VBC Arts, Hearts and Tarts promotion. I was all over it.

So if you're needing a mom's day of pampering and a Valentine's Day gift for the hubby, give the salon a call and they'll fit you in. Our first day of makeovers will be on Sunday, February 1, 2009. Another day is scheduled for Sunday, February 22, 2009. Sessions are limited so give them a call today!

FIVE 60 SALON & SPA GLAMS UP VALENTINE’S DAY
Salon taking part in VCB Arts, Hearts & Tarts promotion

Grand Junction, CO (Jan. 21, 2009) - Five 60 Salon & Spa has found the perfect gift idea for everyone’s Valentine… you! In a tasteful glamour shot. For two days, Sunday, Feb. 1 and Sunday, Feb. 22, the hair and makeup artists at Five 60 Salon & Spa will partner with local photographer Cristine Strickland to offer personal photo shoots. The salon is participating in the Grand Junction Visitor & Convention Bureau’s (VCB) annual Arts, Hearts & Tarts promotion which runs through the month of February and highlights the cultural attractions of the city.

“We thought a tasteful glamour shot would make a great Valentine’s Day gift for someone else while pampering yourself with a hair style and make up session,” said salon Owner Heather Heinbaugh. “And by partnering with Cristine, who is an incredibly talented photographer, people will get very natural and fun photographs instead of the typical glamour shot.” While the salon’s participation is unusual since the focus of the promotion is on culture, including art, music and cuisine, Heinbaugh insists, “Great hair, make up and photography IS art!”

Hair, make up and photo shoots will take place at Five 60 Salon & Spa, located at 560 Colorado Avenue in Downtown Grand Junction. The basic glamour shot package for one person is $200 and includes professional hair style, make up, photo shoot, one 8 x 10 photograph, and coupon for discounted professional framing of the photo at Frameworks & Gallery. Larger and multiple-person packages are also available. Appointments are limited and must be booked in advance.

This is the second year for the Arts, Hearts & Tarts promotion, a special month-long event designed to celebrate local artistic, musical and theatrical offerings. Throughout February the VCB will be promoting special events, concerts, shows and other cultural activities to draw residents and tourists into Grand Junction’s cultural charms and retail shops. For additional information about the promotion, please contact Jennifer Grossheim-Harris, marketing and public relations coordinator for the VCB, at 970.256.4063.

Five 60 Salon & Spa was started in 2005 by Heinbaugh and currently employs five stylists offering a variety of services, including: hair design, color and treatments, waxing and nail services and massage therapy with Certified Massage Therapist Olivia Anson-Buckley. For additional information about the Glamour Shot promotion or Five 60 Salon & Spa, please contact Leigh Ashman, marketing director, at 970.263.4551 or 970.260.7002.

Several weeks before Christmas I had the privilege of photographing Heather and her son Mason inside her salon for their annual holiday cards. We had a beautiful fun filled session that was full of crazy boy antics. That boy cracked me up. You could obviously see the bond the two of them share as they kidded around for the camera.

More minis!

I think this is all that I had a release for. Remember...if you don't sign the release I can't put them on the blog.

I still have several full sessions to post and hope to do that over the weekend so keep peeking back if you've had a session recently and it hasn't been posted yet. I had planned to be out of town this holiday weekend but my plans have changed and I'll be around trying to catch up. I hope to be completely caught up so we can get the last of the holiday cards ordered by mid week.

Minis at Kairos

I thought I'd share a few from the mini sessions we did at Kairos Children's Boutique. These minis have been a great success. We had an awesome turnout and every one seems to enjoy themselves. I love the variety of looks I'm able to get right there in the store.

The next minis will probably be for Mother's Day. I want to put the focus on moms and the relationship they have with their children. Feedback on this is welcome. Tell me what you all think!

The last of the fall color | Grand Junction Family Photographer

It makes me sad. The beautiful fall colors are gone. Halloween is over. The heaters are starting to click on at night and before we know it winter will be fully upon us with snow and the holidays. My favorite outdoor portrait season has slipped by me and once again I missed it with my own family. But I did get some of your families.

This was the last one with color. We *almost* missed it when little Cache was under the weather. Luckily it only took a few days for her to recover and I snuck her and her beautiful family in between other sessions.

I had the opportunity to spend the evening with this family a couple of weeks before this session. I felt so welcomed and so at home there with them. With a connection like that I knew this would be a good session. We had fun. J said it was work but I had a blast. They ran and played and showed so much joy and emotion with each other. It was a privilege to capture these precious times with them.











And this little miss just happened to have a petticoat hanging in her closet. Of course I wanted to photograph her playing in it. And the most logical place to play....




Mommy and Daddy's bed. Would you expect anything different?

Sophie and Olivia | Grand Junction Child Photographer

LOOK at this smile. isn't it just infectious? Big sis is adorable as well. I had an incredible time photographing these two in their absolutely beautifully decorated home. Mom is an interior decorator. These two girls had rooms that were the BOMB. Beautiful colors. Beautiful furniture. Beautiful toys. Very grown up in a little girl kind of way.

Sara | Montrose Newborn Photographer

Recently I traveled to Montrose to photograph little 13 day old Sara. She's a beautiful new addition and a dream come true for this new family. Looking at these images, you'd never know she was so wide eyed and so alert for most of the day. We finally wore her out and I'm sure she slept well all evening.

Christmas Minis | Grand Junction Holiday Photographer

I am so excited. I *just* got off the phone with Carla at Kairos Children's Boutique. We just scheduled another day of very special mini sessions in her store for October 22, 2008. These sessions will be targeted towards those clients who want just a few special portraits to give as gifts for the holidays and to be used in custom holiday cards. Expect each session to yield 8 unique images. Mini sessions consist of a 20 minute session in which we can photograph your family together, each of your children individually or in any combination. Special holiday collections will showcase your images. If you are interested in this special holiday event, give Carla a call at 970.241.0460 and she will schedule your slot. Space is limited so reserve today!!

giving is good.

Recently I completed my NILMDTS training in Glenwood Springs, CO. It was a full day of heartfelt training to prepare myself to give back to our community. Some people think "how could you do this? Isn't it hard? I couldn't do it." My thoughts, "How could I not?" To give to these families in need, to give them something tangent to hold on to, to give when they hurt so much, to help them heal. How could I not?

With the Month of October being recognized as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, The Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation holds its Annual Fund Drive for six weeks starting in mid-September and ending in October.

President Ronald Reagan enacted Proclamation 5890 in October of 1988 to recognize that each year, approximately a million pregnancies in the United States alone end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of a newborn child. Reagan stated, "A national observance offers us the opportunity to increase our understanding of the great tragedy involved in the deaths of unborn or newborn babies. It also enables us to consider how, as individuals and communities, we can meet the needs of bereaved parents and family members... " To read the full Proclamation signed by Reagan, CLICK HERE.

If you are in a place to make even a small contribution to NILMDTS, please know that doing so will continue to allow the organization to provide improved resources, training, communication, and other tools necessary in support of our amazing contingent of professional photographers who provide the gift of free remembrance portraiture to families in need.

The next project they are working on is an online, interactive webinar version of their Formal NILMDTS Training taught by Co-Founder Sandy Puc' allowing anyone in any country with access to a computer to complete the course online. Donations help make programs like this a reality!






Your Donations Support the Organization in Many Ways

* By supporting the continued education of our volunteer photographers
* By allowing us to further our outreach to hospitals and hospices across the world
* By offsetting the costs associated with outreach efforts including Formal NILMDTS Training Seminars
* By supporting the Family Forum which creates a productive and supportive haven for healing
* By supporting the Photographers' Forum which provides a helpful environment for our member photographers to express their feelings and receive advice on the various issues that they face in this noble work
* By supporting the day to day operations of our Headquarters Offices

computer issues

Some of you may know that this last week I've had some serious computer problems. We've been working diligently to recover all of my lost data and as of today I'm back online and almost running smoothly. Rest assured that ALL of your images are safe. But, there's always a but isn't there? I had to upgrade to Vista and in the upgrade I've lost my calendar, all but the most recent of my personal emails and all of my phone and message logs. If you have a session scheduled with me and I haven't called you PLEASE call me to confirm time and dates.

I'll be back on track by Monday.

~C

Alexandrea | Grand Junction Senior Photographer

Another teen. And SUCH a beautiful girl inside and out. She was a dream to work with. What a treat for me to photograph someone that holds still! She knew what she wanted and mom just left us to do our thing. We wandered the allies behind all of the wonderful Main Street shops for a couple of hours, laughing and chatting while we zig-zaged and back tracked for clothing changes and to go back to someplace we had seen that looked like it would work for what we wanted. I think I actually wore her out.

My own Walker.

Some of you know that I use cloth diapers. Some of you also cloth diaper but when many of you hear this you kind of give me a strange look. Cloth diapers have evolved immensely since the days of our parents and grand parents. No longer are they boring and white. And no longer do they require the pins and soaking that many associate with cloth. They are so full of fun prints and colors that I hesitate to cover them up. I'm always on the hunt to increase my stash and eagerly await my fluffy mail. Many can be found quite readily at stores like http://www.cottonbabies.com/ and http://www.nickisdiapers.com/. You hear of brand names like Fuzzy Bunz, BumGenius! or Haute Pockets. Then there's the WHAM brands that you find readily at Etsy or at eBay. Still others are hard to find, selling out within seconds of going up for sale like the diapers at Hyena Cart. My favorite diapers come from my friends at Hyena Cart. I feel very lucky to own a single Stinky Couture diaper as Daphne only sells a very limited number of diapers every month. I was happy to find in my email box I had just earned another. Check out my youngest in his Stinky, the July winner of the Stinky Couture photo contest. www.hyenacart.com/StinkyCouture/

holiday deadlines and mini's at Kairos.

I really need to keep up on this. I've had so many beautiful sessions since my last update and I thank all of you for keeping me so busy.

It's time to talk about the holidays. I know, I know...holiday's already? yeah. It's creeping up on us fast. If you're thinking about portraits for holiday or Christmas gifts for the grandparents it's time to give me a call. The ordering deadline for gift and wall portraits for delivery before December 23 will be the Friday BEFORE Thanksgiving, November 21. Holiday cards should be designed, finalized and ordered by November 14 for a December 1 delivery. Canvases, books and other specialty products will need to be completely designed, finalized and ordered by Thursday, October 30. I will be out of the office and completely unavailable the week following the November 21st deadline and cannot guarantee delivery dates if these dates are missed.

A few weeks ago I did a series of mini sessions at Kairos Children's Boutique, located at 129 South 6th Street, right behind Main Street Bagels. If your looking for something fun and unique for your little one to wear, pop in on her. She carries name brands like Daily Tea and Petunia Picklebottom and See Kai Run. Things you can't find anywhere else in Grand Junction. She also has beautiful, handmade, one of a kind clothing that is just to DIE for. I love her stuff. I could run my hands through the little clothes all day long. Mini sessions like these were a first for me and I found the morning light inside her store AMAZING. So amazing that we're cooking up another day of shooting in the near future. If you're interested in this give Carla a call at 970.241.0460 and she'll put you on the list.

A couple of the images from that day:

Eleanor | Grand Junction Newborn Photographer

I think little Eleanor is my newest newborn poster girl. But then, I think that after every newborn session. Newborns are special. They are so new and fresh and perfect. My kids tease me because I always get so excited when I talk to a new mom on the phone. "Squishy" is the word I used on this call. My kids are still laughing at me and making fun of me. I like to get my lens on them before they are two weeks old and convincing a new mom of that right after they gave birth is sometimes hard to do. But at two weeks they start to loose that brand newness. That just out of the womb look. They start to realize that they can stretch those little frog legs out and that they like this newfound freedom. It's a newness that you can't bring back. A newness that calls to be captured, to be forever remembered with the lens. This one was just on this cusp of brand newness and her mother is so, so glad that I was there to capture it. I hear she's grown so much since these were taken.

And yes, this is Everett's little sister. And Connor's. And Parker's. L, you are an inspirational mom with 4 so young.

Alchemy and Pantha | Grand Junction Teen Photographer

When his is what results from the first click of your camera you know it's going to be a good session. I don't usually photograph teens. I mean my own don't even let me come near them with the camera. But this was special. One of these girls practically lives in my home and my daughter in hers. This was a special gift for her mother. A surprise. I grabbed both of her girls and took them down to Main Street, one of my favorite outside locations. I think it was the morning of the Christmas parade. I remember it being just freezing. Remember how cold and wet it was that evening? Weren't we all just about blown off the streets mid parade? Anyway, we were fighting some wind and we were cold. We almost called it a day before we got there and I was sure that wind was just ruining our little surprise. But I came home and downloaded my card and took a good look at what we had. I was floored. Then I remembered that some photographers, studio photographers actually use fans to create that wind. Here I thought it was a nuisance and in reality it was just perfect.






This one has a little story behind it. No, I didn't drag that chair down town with us. As we walked behind the Heirlooms for Hospice thrift store, the slider door was open to their storage area. I'm all about the moment. I see what is around me and use what I can. I spied the chair and I begged the women in the storage area to let me drag it to the street. At first they told me no and I pleaded some more, "just three minutes" and they had a change of heart. We grabbed it and click, click click and it was back where it belonged. This was one the girls chose to give to their mom and it's one of my favorite "seize the moment" images.

Everett | Grand Junction Childrens Photography

We snuck a little mini session in while I was there for Everett's new baby sister. You'll get a peek at her soon. Everett just turned three and was fun to photograph. So cute and he knows it. But, alas...when you tell a three year old just one more, they take you up on it and hold you to it. When you're done, your just done I guess. But that's okay, what I got was truly worth the four minutes he gave me. Well, maybe it was a few more than four.

Emma and Grace | Grand Junction Child Photographer

Or was it Grace and Emma? Either way they were inseparable. It was a few days before Christmas and Grandma and Grandpa were visiting. First we had an audience but the adults quickly realized we didn't need them and went about their business. We started with a few formals, well...as formal as I get. They wore their Christmas dresses anyway. Then we moved on to the tutus and jumping on the bed. I love to jump on the bed. We jump on the bed at our house often. We finished with a glorious bubble bath that ended with bubbles all over the floor.